Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 07:03:40 +0900
From: Andrej Koymasky
Subject: Happy Xmas 11 (last)
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HAPPY CHRISTMAS, NEIL & NORMAN
by Andrej Koymasky (C) 1999 - 2000
Written on March 23rd 1990
translated by the Author
English text kindly revised
by Scott
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USUAL DISCLAINER
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS, NEIL & NORMAN" is a gay story, with some parts
containing graphic scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land,
religion, family, opinion and so on this is not good for you it will be
better not to read this story.
But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think
you really want to read it, please be my welcome guest.
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CHAPTER 11
They celebrated Christmas 1986 by inviting all their friends to their
home. In the end Norman was persuaded not to work for the whole of the
following year and to stay at home. This was largely because he realized
that it was a burden for Neil to work and then to have to wake up often
during the night for the child.
Ned was growing well; he was lively, cheerful and well behaved. He was
blond like Sara but, oddly, with some traits that reminded one of Norman
-- mainly the color and shape of his eyes. Sara never visited, nor did
she write or phone. However, in May 1987 an envelope arrived, containing
a newspaper clipping, that announced the marriage of Sara Browning to
one John Pierce, celebrated in the Anglican Cathedral of Glasgow. The
envelope didn't have the sender's name or address written on it. The
postmark was of Glasgow and, apart from the newspaper clipping, it
contained nothing else.
With the good weather, both Norman and Neil liked to stroll in the
nearby park with Ned in his push-chair. Once they reached the park they
would spread a rug, put the baby on it and play with him -- sometimes
just one of them, at other times both of them.
On one occasion, when they got back home, Neil told Norman, "In the
park, a lady asked me if I was Ned's grandfather. I was about to reply
'I am his father', when she said, 'You know, yesterday I saw the baby
with his father... But his where is his mother? Is she working?' I
answered that she was dead, and the lady's face was filled with
compassion. So I didn't tell her who I am... Possibly our neighbors are
also asking themselves the same question. It would be better if you and
I agree to give the same answer, so that we don't cause any problems..."
"Well, you could have told her that you are also Ned's father and see
how she reacted, couldn't you?" Norman said in amusement.
"No, Love. The problem will became more and more serious for Ned as he
grows up, and especially when he starts attending school. I think that
if I say that I am his grandfather everything will be much simpler and
easier, mainly for Ned."
"Fine! So I've become party to incest!" Norman laughed.
"We can just say that I am Sara's father, your father-in-law..."
"Do you think we need to do that?"
"Yes. If rumors began... Ned would pay the price. He would become a
laughing stock. And then, remember what the lawyer said -- if the
authorities come to know that the two of us are lovers, we risk them
taking the child away from us. Even if they believe you are really his
father, they never leave a child with a gay father. The judges..."
"It is not fair that you have to pretend to be my father-in-law when, in
reality, you are my husband!"
"If it wasn't for Ned, we wouldn't even give a shit about that. If you
want, we can ask Robert's advice, but you'll see that he will say I'm
right."
"Alright. But at least don't ask me to call you 'Dad' -- it would make
me feel really weird."
No, of course I won't. A son-in-law and a father-in-law often call each
other by their first names. This lie is one of the prices we have to pay
to society in order for all three of us to live safely."
So, from then on, if anybody asked them, they said what they had agreed
upon and, oddly enough, people believed it without any difficulty. If
they had said that they were just friends, someone would certainly have
started vicious rumors. Moreover if Ned called both of them 'Dad' while
he was growing up, it would not seem so unusual. Anyway, they decided to
get the child used to calling them by their first names.
Upon reflection they decided that a gay couple wanting to bring up a
baby had to accept that they would certainly face a number of problems
and that society could be really unfair. But neither of them felt like
being a hero especially now that they had their son to think about.
Anyway everything seemed to be going well, and they noticed that their
neighbors, possibly sympathetic over the story of the dead mother,
treated with admiration and kindness these two men who were raising the
child with so much care and love.
In summer they had a good holiday in France, by the seaside, on the
beaches of Normandy. It was the first real holiday they had been able to
take and they enjoyed it immensely. The child's presence had cemented
their union even more. They felt how beautiful it was to be walking
together, building their lives together, sure that nothing could
separate them, apart from death or selfishness. But neither of them was
afraid of selfishness for, even if it tried to surface again, the love
that united them caused it to melt like snow in the sun.
Christmas 1987 arrived. Ned was now one-and-a-half years old and they
had already succeeded in getting him admitted to nursery school,
starting the following January. Patrick had gone away to spend Christmas
with his family, leaving Robert alone -- as he had to work ñ so they
invited him for supper on Christmas day. He arrived with two bottles of
champagne and a big cake. After they had put Ned to bed, they ate supper
by candlelight, as had become their tradition. After supper they chatted
and Robert confided to them that things with Patrick weren't bad, but
the fact that they could not live together restricted their relationship
and their harmony quite a lot. Robert had the feeling that his Patrick
was gradually drifting away from him.
"Can't you change your job and look for something that doesn't tie you
down so much, allowing you to live with Patrick without problems?" Neil
asked him.
"Patrick has asked me that, more than once... But what can I do apart
from being a detective? In fact I think I'm at the stage where I'll not
be able to do anything else."
"Don't you think that private investigation agencies would snap you up?"
"I did think so, but it doesn't seem to be that easy, unless I resign
myself to earning about half of my present pay. I don't know, I feel
really confused. On one hand I feel terrible that I risk losing Patrick,
but on the other hand..."
"The fact is that you don't just risk losing Patrick, but anyone else
you might meet. You will always have this problem." Neil commented.
"Unless..." Norman intervened.
"Unless, what? What are you thinking?" Neil asked.
"It's one of my completely crazy ideas, I'm afraid..."
"Well, it doesn't cost anything to hear it." Robert encouraged him with
a smile.
"If you and Patrick married two lesbians -- a couple, I mean -- and you
live in the same house... What the couples do in bed, well, nobody could
know or guess..."
Neil smiled and said, "Yes, it really is one of your crazy ideas."
But Robert seemed thoughtful; "Well... it might just work. Possibly if
we lived in two apartments on the same floor, with a communicating
door... The problem is just finding a couple of lesbians who would
agree... who possibly have the same problem and who therefore... But I
certainly can't put an ad in the newspaper, regrettably."
"You can't, but Patrick can. There are gay magazines and there is also
an association for the rights of gay and lesbian people... You certainly
can't expose yourself, but..." Neil said, deep in thought.
So they talked some more about this possibility and, in the end, Robert
said that he would definitely suggest it to Patrick. Later on, he left.
While they were getting ready for bed, Neil said to his lover, "You
really have an incredible imagination. If your idea becomes reality,
this Christmas will be a memorable one too."
Unhappily Norman's suggestion did not become reality, although that
Christmas did remain memorable -- but for a sad reason. On January 4th
Robert felt ill and Patrick accompanied him to the hospital. There they
found that Robert had a brain tumor in a very advanced state. It became
a drama. Robert experienced terrible pain that was barely eased by the
drugs. Patrick spent all his free time at his lover's bedside and was
reduced to a terrible state, through both tiredness and the pain of
seeing the man he loved dying before his eyes. Robert passed away in
July.
Patrick retreated into himself, with his pain. Only after insisting on
numerous occasions, were Neil and Norman able persuade him to move to
their place, at least for a few weeks. Their friendship gradually helped
to soothe his sorrow a little, and because of that, and using various
excuses, they succeeded in getting him to remain with them until the end
of the year. One or the other of them began to take him, more and more
often, to a gay pub, or even to a disco, to encourage him to meet other
people and to distract him.
On Christmas day in 1988 Edward agreed to baby-sit Ned, so they took
Patrick to the party that was being held at the City Apprentice gay
disco. Here Norman was approached by a boy his own age -- a shy but
merry and really handsome boy called Ken. Norman explained to him
clearly that he was there with his lover, and that even if he had been
there alone, he would never cheat on his man.
The boy said, "Alright, never mind! But I don't know anybody in here and
it has already taken me lot of courage to talk with you. Would you
introduce me to your man, and allow me to stay a while with you?"
"Of course... Come on... Here, this is my lover Neil and this is
Patrick, a very dear friend. This is Ken. He doesn't know anybody, so
I've invited him to spend the evening with us."
So Ken joined the group. As Norman and Neil were almost always dancing
together, Ken danced mainly with Patrick. And Norman had one of his
crazy ideas.
"Neil, would you please invite Patrick to dance with you, so I can dance
with Ken and talk to him in private?"
"If you explain me what idea you've come up with this time... I bet you
want to get Ken and Patrick together."
"You know me too well now; you read me like a book. Do you really think
it's such a crazy idea?"
"I don't know. Anyway I'll let you try."
So they swapped partners, and Norman asked Ken, "Are you having fun?"
"Yes, thank you. You're all really nice guys."
"Is Patrick... by any chance... your type?"
"You are. But I know how the land lies, so... But Patrick isn't bad at
all. He has a really attractive face and I think he also has a nice
body... He's just a little withdrawn. It seems almost as though he has
difficulty being kind... I don't know."
"I wanted to talk to you about that very thing..." Norman said, and
explained about Robert's death. Then he concluded, "If you don't feel
like it, of course, pretend that I've said nothing. But if you could try
to become his friend and, I'm not suggesting that you should do it right
away, but if eventually you took him to bed... you might possibly help
him to loosen up a little, to help him regain some peace. Sorry Ken,
it's not that I want to be a matchmaker, but, you see, all of Patrick's
friends are couples -- Neil and I, and four others... And this makes him
feel even lonelier, now that his Robert is gone. Am I asking you too
much?"
"Well, no... After all I do find him attractive, and we'll see whether
we can at least be friends. In any case, I'm alone in London. I've been
here for three months and haven't even found one friend. So it would
also be nice for me if I could meet him again..."
"Alright. I'll give you my address later. At the moment Patrick is
living with us, although I think he will be returning to his own home
soon. But if you call soon, before New Year's day, I think he will still
be at our place. You can call and say that you'd like to see us again
and start getting to know each other better. If you were able to make
love with him, I think it would be the best medicine for him... But even
simply the two of you going out together, so that he doesn't feel
excluded from our group of couples -- being with a friend -- I think
that will do him the world of good."
"Alright Norman, I'll do what I can..."
>From that point on, Ken changed his approach a little. While before he
had mainly addressed Norman, now he gradually addressed Patrick more and
more. At the end of the evening, when they said goodbye, Norman and Ken
exchanged addresses, promising to call each other and to meet again.
All the way back home, Neil and Norman talked about Ken, and also asked
Patrick what he thought of the boy.
"He seems a good boy, honest, likeable. He's a computer technician at
the Chamber of Commerce and was living in Brighton before," Patrick
said.
"Yes, he left there because he split-up with his boyfriend when he
discovered that he was a hustler, right under his nose. I think he was
quite shattered," Norman said.
"He told me a little about it. They had lived together for two years and
had met at school; they were classmates. Life can be such a bitch at
times," Patrick said bitterly and retreated into his usual silence until
they got home.
Ken phoned on December 29th. Norman consulted the others, then invited
him to spend the last day of the year with them. Neil and Norman
arranged things so that the Patrick and Ken drank quite a bit -- they
were hoping that the alcohol would loosen their self control for a
while, perhaps facilitating the beginning of something between them, at
least at a physical level. But that night, when they decided to hit the
sack at around three 'o clock, Ken went off with Patrick to the guest
room and nothing happened. They talked for a while in the darkness, each
in his own bed, and soon fell asleep. They also spent the first day of
the new year together, then Ken said goodbye and went home. But now the
ice had been broken.
Then Patrick decided to return to his own home.
But on January 5th, Ken called Norman.
"Patrick has invited me to go out with him... I'm really starting to
like that man a lot. I feel that although you asked me to do you a
favor, you actually did me one. I'll call you to tell you how it
went..."
Ken and Patrick had dates through the whole month of January and half of
February before anything happened. They also started meeting at
Patrick's place, and one evening Patrick suggested that Ken stop and
sleep there. And finally they made love. The day after, Neil received a
call from Patrick.
"You know, last night Ken stopped at my place. I asked him to. And... we
made love... I've been feeling desire for him for a while, and I feel
good with him -- it has been really good. He is not Robert, of course,
but I like that boy -- I really like him."
"We like him too. We think he is a good chap, honest, nice. And I think
he really needs a good friend, and some tenderness. You can help him to
feel a little less lonely. I'm really happy about what... what happened
last night."
"I also like him in bed. I hope that something serious might grow
between us..."
"I hope so for you..." Neil answered from his heart.
Not even thirty minutes later, Ken called and asked for Norman.
"Hey, Norman! Last night Patrick asked me to stay at his place, and I
guessed why at once, and was so happy... And after a while, once we had
overcome our embarrassment, Patrick and I started making love. It was
really great, you know? Much better than I had expected. He also has a
beautiful... thing and he uses it like a god -- he made me lose my head
completely. He took me for almost two hours, before cumming... meanwhile
I came twice without even touching myself! I've never felt anything so
intense, believe me! And then, this morning, as I was about to leave, he
asked me if I would like to stop at his place again sometimes; if I want
to make love with him again! I was hoping that he'd ask that and told
him 'yes' at once. My god, I'm getting aroused just thinking about it.
When you meet him and talk with him, he seems an abrupt guy, not very
romantic, and yet in bed he is so tender, just the way I like it. Tender
but strong -- I don't know if you understand what I mean. While he was
taking me, he gave me more than just pleasure; he gave me... almost a
feeling of completeness... I feel as though something serious is
starting here. I don't want to be disappointed, but... I think I will
always remember that Christmas party at the City Apprentice with you,
when I approached you. It all started there..."
"It seems that, for a while now, Christmas has been a really special day
for me. Well, I'm very happy for you, Ken, and I hope that everything
goes your way. Come and visit us, you two, from time to time. You know
that it's not easy for Norman and me to go out in the evening, with the
child."
"Sure, with pleasure. We can also baby-sit Ned, sometimes, so that you
two can also go out without any worries."
"Ah, thank you..."
"And eventually... would you mind if... if we use your double bed
instead of going upstairs to the guest room? You know, if your son
cried, we would hear him immediately..."
"Ah, cheeky boy! A good excuse! No, sure, it's a good idea. We hope to
see you soon, anyway."
"My god, Norman, I'm longing to see him again... to be his again...
Well, thank you once again..."
So, Patrick and Ken started seeing more and more of each other until, on
the day of Ned's birthday in April -- during the little party -- they
agreed to become lovers and told their friends. Ken moved completely
into his lover's home and the friends saw with pleasure that Patrick
really was reborn.
In 1989 Ned got the mumps but easily overcome this illness. But Neil and
Norman were very worried and scared all through it as this was the boy's
first serious illness. Their friends took turns at the child's bed to
give the two fathers some relief and were just as worried as they were.
All of them were fond of Ned.
In the summer the three of them again went to the seaside in France, as
Neil and Norman managed to have their holidays together. Ned had
completely recovered and it was a joy to watch him playing in the sand
with the other boys -- the obstacle of language seemed easily overcome.
The child usually called them by their first names, but at times also
"dad" This didn't seem to cause problems for other people -- the story
of father- and son-in-law was now tried and tested and seemed to be
working as they intended.
On Christmas day 1989 they held a beautiful party to celebrate the sixth
anniversary of their "marriage", as their friends called it.
Francis, as he made the toast, said, "We are all really happy to be here
to congratulate you two, Neil and Norman. We are happy not only because
your marriage has reached its sixth year, more sound than ever, but also
for another reason -- and I think I can really speak on behalf of all of
us, because what I am about to say, we have said to each other several
times. We are happy because we are all your friends. I think I can say
with certainty that one is seldom lucky enough to meet an exceptional
person, and it is even rarer to find two such people under the same
roof. Yes, Neil it is useless to make that face. You are an exceptional
person -- for your patience, for your ability to live outside of
pre-established patterns, for your ability to love everybody, even
people you don't know, for always being there, for being serious without
becoming oppressive, for your fidelity, for your tenderness.
"We have all learned so much from you, we all owe you so much. Each one
of us can say that he has become a better man just being around you. But
you, Norman, are exceptional too. For your ability to accept things
without becoming bothered, without being amazed, but being able to
observe those things with wonder; for your sweetness, together with an
incredible strength of character for someone so young. For your ability
to understand others, to learn from the smallest things in life to which
most of us don't even pay attention, for your maturity that still allows
you to remain a youth, for your cheerfulness, for your sense of humor.
And we also have to thank you for your son Ned. You can't imagine how
much joy you have given us through managing to have a son. It is a
little as though... as though you've made us all... proud and happy
uncles. Therefore we wish you thousands and thousands more of these
anniversaries."
Neil and Norman were moved. They looked at each other and, on impulse,
they embraced and gave each other a long kiss -- to the applause of
their friends.
When the applause ended, a little voice said, "Me too want congratulate
my dads!"
Everybody turned -- in the doorway stood Ned, his eyes half-asleep, his
hair ruffled, wearing his little light blue pajamas with his teddy bear
under his arm. There was a moment of embarrassment, but Norman went and
picked him up and took him into the midst of their friends.
He started to sing, "For he's a jolly good fellow..." and everybody
merrily joined the chorus while Ned happily clapped his little hands in
time.
After putting Ned back to bed once the party was over and everybody had
left, Norman and Neil embraced in their bed.
"We have to be more careful with Ned. He is growing now, and he is
starting to see and understand things. On the one hand he is already
grown up enough to notice the way we live. On the other hand he is still
too young for us to explain some things to him clearly. It is a good
problem," Neil said, caressing his boyfriend.
Norman nodded and said, "We may have to be more careful. But I don't
think we should hide things from him, acting the part of father- and
son-in-law for him also. It would mean separate bedrooms, never
exchanging a kiss in front of him... living in a castle of lies that
would crumble down anyway, sooner or later. We may have to restrict
ourselves a little, but let him see and understand. When and if problems
arise, we will face them and solve them. When he asks us the reason for
things that may seem odd to him, we will explain them to him. Even
though he is so little, I think we should explain things as though he
were an adult, as though he were able to understand everything. We will
explain to him that the two of us are different from the majority of his
little friends' parents and that it's better for others not to know this
as they could harm him and us. I think he will understand, Neil. I think
that he will be able to keep the secret and be able to protect and
defend his family..."
"Don't you think that this will burden him with responsibilities larger
than his shoulders can bear? Don't you think that we will make him an
insecure person, afraid and uncertain?"
"Neil, you've read what happened to the Jews under the Nazis, when the
families who could do so had to hide and not reveal their true race.
Children learned to behave in the right way. And those who didn't fall
into the hands of their enemies survived and grew up as healthy and
sound, if not more so, as the children of their age who didn't have that
problem. We gay people are the Jews of our society, and the moralists
who surround us are the racists. Sure, our lot is better than that of
the Jews, for we are not risking our lives... You'll see... we'll come
out on top of this problem, if we love each other and if we love Ned. I
am sure of it!"
"You know that I love you very much, Norman? At times I ask myself what
I've done to deserve you. And I also ask myself where I would be without
you..."
"You've taken the words right out of my mouth. I agree with you
completely. I would also be a poor creature, a nothing, without you. And
instead I can be Norman, just because you are Neil and because we love
each other. And because we love making love with each other. A few days
ago I was asking myself why the churches won't agree to unite us, and
even the country's laws are against this. Well, I told myself, we really
don't need it. Every time we make love, loving each other with all of
ourselves, body and soul, we are celebrating the most beautiful marriage
one could imagine; the most sacred, the most legitimate that could exist
on the face of earth, in spite of legislators, in spite of priests!"
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THE END
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In my home page I've put some of my stories. If someone wants to read
them, the URL is
http://www.geocities.com/andrejkoymasky/
If you want to send me feed-back, please e-mail at
andrejkoymasky@geocities.com
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